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Caballero going on road for title shot

Bantamweight Randy Caballero is headed overseas again, this time in an effort to win a vacant world title.

Caballero will face former titleholder Stuart Hall of England for the belt recently vacated by Paul Butler. But instead of fighting in his home region of Southern California, where Caballero has fought most of his career, he is headed for England because of the result of Tuesday's IBF purse bid.

Promoter Dennis Hobson, representing Hall, won the auction for $261,750, easily outbidding Golden Boy Promotions, the only other bid, which offered $127,000.

Hobson has 90 days to put on the fight. The purse will be split 50-50, with Caballero and Hall each receiving $130,875.

England’s Butler won a split decision against the 34-year-old Hall (16-3-2, 7 KOs) on June 7 to claim the 118-pound title, but rather than defend it Butler vacated and is moving down in weight, leaving Caballero and Hall as the leading available contenders to vie for the vacant belt.

To get the title shot, Caballero (21-0, 13 KOs) traveled to Japan and knocked out Kohei Oba in the eighth round on April 4 in an elimination bout to become the mandatory challenger for the belt.

A resident of Coachella, California, the 23-year-old Caballero has no problem going back on the road.

“Randy has no problem with it. He’s a real pro,” manager Cameron Dunkin told ESPN.com. “He is not afraid to go anywhere. He went all the way to Japan for the eliminator. He’ll go to England, no problem. He’s great at fighting at home, but [Golden Boy] didn’t win the bid so he has to deal with it. He said, ‘I don’t care where I have to fight. I’ll fight on the moon. I want to be champion.’ He has a great attitude.”